The growing demand for technology presents startups and tech companies with new business opportunities. It also propels customers to become more sophisticated and knowledgeable about their options on the market, which compels tech companies to continuously improve and ensure their offerings are better than they were yesterday.

Choosing the right marketing tool is critical for tech companies to keep pace with such a rapidly changing market, and one tool is drawing lots of attention for its impact: video.

How video supports startups’ sales and marketing

Using video is an excellent way for tech companies to realize development opportunities. To start, video has the potential to communicate on a deeper, more personal level than many other sales and marketing tools. Compared to a blog, for example, a video engages more of a customer’s senses.

Furthermore, because video is a form of visual marketing, it can capture many of the nonverbal cues that happen during in-person conversations. As many successful salespeople know, nonverbal communication is critical to winning a customer’s trust.

Also consider your customer’s point of view in the technology market, where competition is fierce and many products can be replaced by complementary goods. Buyers don’t have time to research each product or company’s datasheet, but a short, engaging video about a solution they’re seeking can comfortably fit into their daily routines.

In fact, 75% of executives watch a work-related video at least once per week, according to Forbes.

3 places startups and tech companies should use video

1. Inbound sales

When focusing on a buyer’s needs, a big challenge is how to align best the sales representative’s perspective with what the customer is looking for. Your sales and marketing team needs the right information, the right medium, and the right timing to show potential customers that you can solve their problems and deserve their trust. Video can help tremendously here.

As an inbound sales and marketing tool, video shortens the gap between the salesperson and potential buyers. How? By turning the sales process into an interactive experience. Video not only helps deliver this experience, but it also establishes credibility and adds a personal touch from the moment it plays. The surge in marketing automation makes finding media that feels personalized all the more critical.

Try this as part of your inbound sales strategy. Instead of writing or calling prospects, record a short video of yourself answering customer questions, then place it in your inbound channels. You may even find it to be faster than other forms of inbound marketing, saving you time to focus on other activities.

2. Outbound sales

Many traditional outbound sales strategies, such as cold calling, have slowly lost impact, forcing companies to discover new tactics for generating leads. Some have turned to an outbound email strategy, but this comes with various limitations. Again, video offers a solution.

Adding videos to emails gives you the power to grab prospects’ attention at first contact, setting you up for better open and conversion rates in the future. Not to mention, emails personalized with video can easily break through boundaries buyers may have put up between themselves and a salesperson. Every customer is unique, and with a personalized video, it is possible to adapt your approach to suit your prospects’ expectations.

So how much potential does video offer on email? The Content Marketing Institute reports that 70% of marketing professionals achieve better conversion rates through video than any other form of content.

3. Customer support

Some tech products and services can be difficult to explain, and relying on manuals is fraught with drawbacks. Video is a valuable alternative here. It shifts the focus from telling to showing. As Fast Company reports, around 65% of the population classify as visual learners. Moreover, people are more likely to remember content with video, images, and other visual assets.

Using video this way is inherently interactive on its own, but you can push the interactivity further (and make the experience stickier) through tools such as screen sharing. This approach lets your account or customer success manager lead a product experience tailored to each customer’s needs.

This approach can be hugely beneficial for software-as-a-service (SaaS) retention. Software features are usually easier to understand when explained through a story that shows each move or action a viewer needs to make.

Use video for customer retention, too

With its high engagement rate, video doesn’t only help build relationships with customers. It also helps nurture them. People buy from those they trust, and video can strengthen that trust by establishing an interactive connection. Sending a video message after purchase and asking for feedback will show how much the customer’s opinion means to you. That opens the door for renewal business, upsells, and more.

More and more companies are including the creation of video content as a key element in their sales and marketing strategies, including tech companies that always have to be on the lookout for new rivals. Video can help save time, create authentic connections with customers, and (when done right) deliver strong ROI.